Fri, Jan 26th - 5:13PM
Step By Step
For years I struggled with two hidden addictions. Most of the people around me didn’t even know they existed.
I would be able to stop for weeks, even months at a time, but then the addiction would rear its ugly head again. Especially when I stressed out.
I took those matters to God. I begged and pleaded for Him to take them away. I prayed for Him to deliver me. I cried for Him to break their hold on me. All to no avail.
God didn’t want to discuss those particular issues. Instead He wanted to address a different addiction in my life. He wanted me to cast my cares on Him.
I have been a worrier all my life. I worry about everything from money issues to people issues to what might happen in the future.
I believe my worrying is innate. I believe I learned how to worry while still in the womb.
God wanted to discuss my worrying, but I wanted to discuss those two addictions. In fact, He is still dealing with me about casting my cares, but those two addictions? They are gone!
Do I still have the opportunity to be tempted in those areas? Yes! But do I take it? No. Why? What changed? God took the struggle away.
What took me thirty years of begging and pleading and white_knuckling, God took away in a matter of hours. In His timing. Not mine.
Some of our addictions, our bad habits, are broken in "the blink of an eye" by God while others require us to "went."
Some people that Jesus healed, such as the woman with the issue of blood, were healed instantly. Others were healed as they went.
Their healing took time. Little by little, with every step they took, they became better and better.
Some of those addictions and bad habits in our lives require us to "went." They require us to get better little by little, one step at a time, rather than to be miraculously delivered.
For me, my addiction to worry is a step-by-step process. Cast down one thought. Replace it with the Word. Cast down another thought. Replace it with the Word. I have to repeat the process until it becomes second nature to me.
Practice makes perfect, so I have to be careful to practice what the Word says.
As God told me, just this morning, we have to practice being the person we want to be before we can become that person. We have to practice being the person God wants us to be. The person He called us to be.
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About The Author: Annagail Lynes is an inspirational writer from Phoenix, Arizona, who uses her writing to encourage others. She asked Jesus into her heart at the tender age of nine and loves to share what God has done in her life. Her writing has appeared in various online and offline publications, including You!, Christian Home and School and Writer's Digest.
Her books are available at http://www.annagaillynes.net/bookstore.html
Used books, videos, DVDs and tape series for sale: http://www.annagaillynes.net/usedbookstore.html
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Fri, Jan 19th - 5:12PM
Mirror Image
Have you ever looked into a mirror and didn’t like what you saw? Some feature of your physical appearance that you thought was ugly? Perhaps your nose. Maybe your eyes or your thighs.
This week I had a similar experience. Only the mirror I was looking into didn’t reflect my outer appearance but my inner one.
I had a conflict with someone I love–a close relative–that escalated.
It was as if the Holy Spirit put a mirror up and said, “See, this is the way you really look inside.”
I could see the areas of my life that needed work. Attitudes that needed to change. Things that had been hidden came to light. I couldn’t deceive myself any more by thinking I had it altogether.
I have just finished reading Juanita Bynum’s book, The Threshing Floor.
Through it, I have learned to put myself on the brazen altar every day and surrender my will for God’s will.
I have been asking God to consume that in me which doesn’t please Him. Rather than just consuming it, He has been making me aware of these problem areas. Not to condemn me but to help me grow deeper in Him.
What I have learned, though, is that God doesn’t want us to get rid of those bad areas on our own. He wants us to yield to His Holy Spirit. He wants us to let the Holy Spirit help us overcome in these areas.
If we try to do it on our own, we will fail. We won’t make lasting changes. We will always struggle to go back to that behavior.
It is only when we team up with the Holy Spirit that we will create lasting change because He knows the root causes of our behavior. He knows those things that are hidden in our lives and can bring them into the light–His light.
So next time the Holy Spirit puts a mirror up to you and shows you which areas you need to work on, enlist His help.
Remember we are all works-in-progress. None of us have it altogether. None of us are complete.
By joining forces with the Holy Spirit, though, you can make more progress than if you continued on your own. The choice is yours.
In The Mirror
I look in the mirror
And what do I see?
The girl inside of me,
Fighting her way to the front,
The girl God created me to be.
She has been there all along,
Deep inside of me
Implanted in me from the beginning.
Don’t you want to see?
The girl inside of me?
The I was meant to be.
- Annagail Lynes
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About The Author: Learn more about Annagail Lynes' ebooks, e-publications, e-novels, read her blog by visiting http://www.annagaillynes.net
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Fri, Jan 12th - 4:28PM
What You Allow, You Agree With
I remember Lindsay Roberts writing in her book, "Stressless Living: Release the Pressures of Life and Start Enjoying Every Day" that God told her that what she allowed, she agreed with.
And as I began to ponder that, I started to see the truth in what He said.
"I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you" Matthew 18:18-19 (NLT).
What are you allowing in your life? What are you permitting that you know would not be pleasing to God?
Maybe you are permitting people to gossip around you. Perhaps you are allowing movies and television shows that contain strong language, sexual content, and extreme violence to be watched in your home. Maybe you are permitting your children to hang around with people that don't reflect the kind of values that you have instilled in them.
The word allow, according the Webster's Dictionary, is defined as "to approve of; to sanction."
To approve of. Let me ask you: is everything that you allow in your life or allow for yourself--such as smoking, consuming too many calories or alcohol, lying, gossiping--things you approve of? Or are they just habits that you have developed over the years that you didn't take the time to break?
What you allow you agree with.
The friends you hang out with that aren't serving God that party too much and are with a different person every night. Do you agree with their lifestyle? No? Then don't allow them to hang around you. Otherwise they will rub off on you. You have to get rid of friends who are not benefitting your relationship with God.
The movies you have in your house. Do you agree with their content? The violence? The swearing? The sex outside of marriage? No? Then get rid of them.
Listen, what you allow, you are agreeing with.
It's time to do some housekeeping with your life. It is time that we became more attached to God than to our friends, movies, our habits. We have to do things and hang around people that will cause us to go deeper in the things of God rather than hinder us from it.
Remember, what you allow, you are agreeing with. What are you allowing in your life that you don't agree with? I challenge you to take a good, hard look at what you allow in your every day life.
About The Author: Learn more about Annagail Lynes' ebooks, e-publications, e-novels, read her blog by visiting http://www.annagaillynes.net
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Thu, Jan 4th - 3:52PM
Will The Truth Stand Up?
The truth–where did it go? Why is it more acceptable in this world to believe the lies rather than the truth?
Today our society is more interested in not offending anyone, not hurting anyone’s feelings, because the individual might sue them. We have become a society walking on eggshells rather than a society willing to stand up for God–the only True way to heaven and true eternal security.
We have become politically correct, especially in the churches. We cannot actually say that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, that the only way to the Father is through His Son, Jesus, for fear that we might upset the Hindus, the Muslims, the Buddhists.
I’d rather upset them here on Earth by exposing them to the Truth rather than play Russian Roulette with their spirits.
Have you ever wondered where that term “politically correct” originated? Who started this term that the politicians and media use so liberally today? It was penned by Karl Marx, the father of Communism. That’s right! Communism!
Who thought that it would be right to add this phrase to our vocabulary? Isn’t Communism what we are fighting against?
We no longer take the time to stand up for what we believe or even know why we believe it. We spout a lot of words about what we believe, but we don’t live as we believe. We are only paying lip service to our beliefs. I no longer find that acceptable.
God deserves first place in your life. Not second, not third, not seventy-fifth on your list. Do you believe that He sent His Son to die for you? Do you believe that He raised Jesus from the dead? Do you believe that Jesus is at the right-hand of the Father, making intercession for you and me? Then it is time to be willing to stand up for those beliefs instead of staying in your comfort zone, wishing and hoping and praying the problem would go away.
Communists and terrorists are willing to die for their beliefs...even though they are believing lies. Why aren’t you willing to stand up for what you believe–the Truth of Jesus Christ?
Search your heart today and really listen to the answer. You are afraid. Afraid of the consequences. Afraid that you may be wrong.
I challenge you to get in the Word, find out in Whom you believe and why. Knowing in Whom you belief is the first step to being able to stand up for the Truth. Stand up for the Truth. Resolve to do it no matter what, and leave the consequences to God. Stand up for God, and He will stand up for you.
About The Author: Learn more about Annagail Lynes' ebooks, e-publications, e-novels, read her blog by visiting http://annagaillynes.latest-info.com/
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